Habitat: Desert Palms

[Gee.S]

Today we visited the historic site of Castle Hot Springs. This once famous desert resort was built in 1896, and still stands today, though it closed for business in 1976 after a devastating fire swept though the region. The history of the place and list of celebrities who visited makes for some fascinating reading (Google for more information), but our main interest of course, was the regional flora, specifically that most elusive of domesticates, Agave murpheyi.

Among the day's finds are two new A. murpheyi sites (success!), and the famous Arizona desert palm (OK, more commonly known as the California Fan Palm), Washingtonia filifera. These majestic palms have actually established thriving populations in at least two separate areas in the Arizona desert. The other, Palm Canyon, is at some substantial distance from our find today. The source of the Castle Hot Springs palms seems a somewhat contentious subject. Some suspect all the palms here were planted by white settlers from seed gathered at Palm Canyon. Others believe this population is naturally occurring. After studying the area today, we find the latter rather more likely, though we cannot discount a third possibility that Hohokam Indians may have planted seed gathered at Palm Canyon. In any case, a fascinating and rewarding site, entirely unique in our experience.

Both A. murpheyi sites are outstanding, one full of healthy bulbils, and the other thriving beyond belief at 1850' elevation. That any Agave could manage on its own at such a low elevation in the Arizona desert is astonishing, and this group was doing just that, to the tune of 70 plants, not including pups! We also stumbled upon a crested Saguaro, and found what may be a new unnamed, unknown domesticate site. We were very fortunate to be able to collect some seed from this unusual population.

A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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Crested Saguaro

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Crested Saguaro

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Crested Saguaro

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Washingtonia filifera

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Washingtonia filifera

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Washingtonia filifera

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Washingtonia filifera

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Washingtonia filifera

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Washingtonia filifera

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[Gee.S]

A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi bulbils

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi bulbils, with a small group of three seed pods to the left

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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Unknown, unnamed domesticate

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Unknown, unnamed domesticate

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Unknown, unnamed domesticate

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Unknown, unnamed domesticate

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Wild mustang

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Wild burro

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[Peterthecactusguy]

a friend I found today.

[KLC]

The resort at Castle Hot Springs is out of place given its location. We first found it while riding our dirtbikes in the wash about 10 years ago. We were quite surprised to find manicured grass and tennis courts in the canyon so far from really anything.

We have been by there a few times on our rides to Crown King from the staging area near Lake Pleasant. Your Jeep would make it up the trail to CK with no problems since the forestry service improved the fire roads.

[Gee.S]

It is definitely an oddity out there in what must have been the middle of nowhere. At least now there are a few ranches around. All these years later, the grounds are still meticulously maintained, with green grass and dozens of palm trees. For the record, none of the photos here are of that property. The palms shown above are from a wild population in the general vicinity. In fact, nearly all the plants shown here are growing no further than five miles from the historic resort.

I'm sure my Jeep would make CK with no problem -- it's a very popular Jeeper's destination, though I have never been. Am I correct in assuming there are A. chrysantha along the way, then A. parryi toward the summit?

[Peterthecactusguy]

I don't know about the southern approach but there are Agaves along the bumble bee to say Cleator and then on up to Crown King route. I just didn't know what they were. I wasn't into Agaves then. I will make that trek one of these days.
Peter

[Gee.S]

No more fun Agaves, but we did find a critter or two... The plams are much taller than they appear, they are growing in a wash far below the road.

Washingtonia filifera

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Washingtonia filifera

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Washingtonia filifera

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Mule Deer

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Three fingered Saguaro

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A. chrysantha

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Sorghum bicolor -- this was the only example we saw

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Unknown

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Wild Burros

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Wild Burros

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Crested Saguaro

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Bizarre Crested Saguaro

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[Peterthecactusguy]

the unknown grass is Sorghum bicolor

[palmofan]

Thank you for sharing pictures to us, is very nice for me view Washingtonia filifera in own natural habitat.

[Gee.S]

Back one last time to wind up our search for A. murpheyi. After a fine beginning, we now view this region as played out, so we ended the day by heading into the Bradshaws from the opposite corner as we had previously entered, coming as close as seven miles to our prior tracks from several weeks back. Crown King may be a storied off-roader's destination, but it offers little other than a high flying ho hum A. chrysantha population and a handful of Echinocereus. For reason or reasons unknown, A. parryi was entirely absent from the region, despite the lofty elevation.

Crested Saguaro

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Crested Saguaro

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Crested Saguaro

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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Echinocereus

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha + Echinocereus

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Echinocereus

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Saguaro + Opuntia engelmannii

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Saguaro + Opuntia engelmannii

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[Spination]

What an interesting location for an Opuntia. And what a view it has from up there! I guess a bird must have left a deposit, and the deposit accrued substantial interest over time.

[mcvansoest]

That is a cool shot. The desert botanical garden in phoenix has several large cacti with prickly pear 'passengers' and a large pachycereus pringlei which has a cluster of echinocereus growing from the crook of one of its arms... if i can find the picture I will post it.

[Gee.S]

Yeah, that was pretty cool. We saw a similar deal once before a few months back, but neither participant looked particularly healthy. This time, both the Opuntia and Saguaro seem pretty happy with the arrangement.

[SC FM]

Growing hardy palms is another hobby of mine Washintonia filifera does survive if given a lot of special considerations like planting out of t wind etc. I have tried W. robustas here and they will not survive at all. I have tried them twice. There are a couple of nice filiferas in Greenville at Greenville Technical College.

[Gee.S]

W. robusta is extremely common landscape fare here (they are everywhere!), and now that I'm more familiar with W. filifera, I have to wonder why. W. filifera is a far more attractive palm, and is native to AZ, so a seemingly better landscape choice. I'm sure I'm missing something obvious, perhaps W. robusta is more easily propagated and/or faster growing or some such.

[Gee.S]

Back on the prowl for that most elusive of domesticate Agaves, A. murpheyi. We may not have found much, but we did manage one previously unknown and undocumented A. murpheyi site and one apparently unknown and undocumented Hohokam petroglyph site in the same general vicinity, so some exciting finds.

Washingtonia filifera

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Hohokam glyphs

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Hohokam glyphs

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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Nicotiana glauca

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Nicotiana glauca

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Nicotiana obtusifolia

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Nicotiana obtusifolia

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[Jkwinston]

Wow! All those lovely bulbils, and just days after my departure! Great find lads! Jkw

[Gee.S]

Today we went nosing around an area not too distant from where our grandiose desert palms hold sway. We meandered along a wash at roughly 2000' until it opened to expose a beautiful little canyon that plays host to an unexpected and completely isolated Agave population. We mucked through the mud, then fought our way up a daunting rock face through viscous Acacia, unyielding Opuntia and some other little goodies until we emerged at 2200' in an almost shockingly dense Agave field. Too low, too green, too long, and too thick, they essentially present as an odd A. chrysantha bunch, or perhaps a facsimile thereof. These plants are nearly sterile and some are even sporting bulbils, so our A. chrysantha ID remains tenuous. On our way up we came across a fascinating little stonecrop, which should shake out as Graptopetalum rusbyi. On our way out we encountered a small feral A. americana group, managing quite nicely.

Graptopetalum rusbyi

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Ferocactus cylindraceus

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Graptopetalum rusbyi

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Graptopetalum rusbyi

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Graptopetalum rusbyi

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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F. cylindraceus + Mammillaria grahami

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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Typical stalk, having dropped all fruits

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A. chrysantha

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[Gee.S]

Continued from previous post...

A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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A. chrysantha

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Feral A. americana

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[MJP]

You discovered some very handsome agaves on this trek. I especially like the long, wiggly-leaved, form.

At first I thought the blue-leaved, long-leaved forms looked rather a lot like some of the Agave palmeri you have found elsewhere. But after seeing the wild/escaped Agave americana, I started wondering. I have noticed that young Agave gracilipes (neomexicana x lechuguilla) are often wiggly-leaved. Most grow out of it, but not all do. That made me wonder if the wiggly-leaved forms you just discovered might be hybrids as well, accounting for the longer leaves, the blue leaves, and apparent surculose habit of some. Maybe, I wonder further still, that wildling Agave americana is involved somehow?

Fantastic stuff all the same. Thanks for sharing your journeys.

[Gee.S]

A long, lovely day today, spent out in the field with Wendy Hodgson and Andrew Salywon of DBG fame, as well as a couple of photographers interested in compiling some manner of photo journal regarding the mysterious activities of field botanists. Wendy was interested in a couple of peculiar Agaves we had found, including at least one that looked promising as a potential new taxa. The company and conversation could not have been more compelling, and between this and going out in the field with Greg two days prior, my Agave IQ may have nearly tripled, fast approaching 100.

Unfortunately, the group we were most interested in had been dealt a terrible blow, in the form of an apparent chemical cleansing, probably directed toward acacia annihilation. Acacia had been sprayed, killed, and physically removed from the hill, and though the treatment was selective, many other plants, including our rare Agaves, took a hit. Once happy, healthy Agaves had sustained substantial leaf damage, and half the large group of bushes protecting hundreds of seedlings/offsets was gone, and half the Agaves with it. Ugh, I felt as if I had awakened after sleeping through an Agave apocalypse. Thankfully, it appears there is enough material remaining to recover, if given an opportunity to do so. Afterward we visited our A. mckelveyana × A. chrysantha population for the second time this week.

A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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DBG Staff

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A. species on Apocalypse Hill

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A. species on Apocalypse Hill

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Echinocereus yavapaiensis

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A. mckelveyana × A. chrysantha

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A. mckelveyana × A. chrysantha

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A. mckelveyana × A. chrysantha

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A. mckelveyana × A. chrysantha

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A. mckelveyana × A. chrysantha

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[Gee.S]

We found three new A. murpheyi sites today, bringing our grand total to 14. Unfortunately, these are some sad, sorry sites that probably won't be around much longer, unless weather patterns change significantly in the very near future.

A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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[Gee.S]

And a couple more murpheyi pops today, each in the same sad, sorry state as those found three days prior. Not sure why they all look so water-starved. It has been a wetter than normal summer.

A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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A. murpheyi

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[Stan]

In pic .o33jpg. To the right a nice desert fern Cheilanthes sp? I killed my only try. Do not water much is not exaggerated.

[Gee.S]

There is no ".o33jpg" in the post which precedes yours. If you are referencing a different post, please include the post #, so others might play along.